The invention is directed to golf carts and other forms of small, powered vehicles.
The conventional configuration of powered golf carts, in which two or more golfers share the cart during a round of golf, has taken golf away from the way it was meant to be played, during which each player followed their own ball from the tee to the green. The pace of play suffers by the waiting and watching that occurs when two or more golfers share a cart.
Since 1989, the compound annual growth in the core golfer population has been only 0.4%. The single largest contributing factor to this stagnation is the pace of play. Simply put, with conventional technology, it takes too long to play a round of golf.
The invention provides a powered golf caddy vehicle that allows each player to follow their own shot from tee to green. The caddy vehicle improves the pace of play by eliminating the waiting and watching that occurs when two or more golfers share a cart. The caddy vehicle brings golf back to the way it was meant to be played: one golfer-one ball, from tee to green.
According to the various aspects of the invention, the caddy vehicle permits a single golfer to conveniently control the speed and direction of travel during a round of golf while following the vehicle. The steering function and throttle control function are merged on a single steering tiller arm. In one embodiment, the steering function includes a xe2x80x9ctrack-straightxe2x80x9d feature, that normally keeps the vehicle in a straight-ahead path of travel in the absence of an operator-applied steering force, even when the vehicle is traveling against the grain of a hill. Hands-free cruise control is thereby enabled. In one embodiment, the throttle control function enables the quick selection of a momentary, hands-on control mode or a hands-free cruise control mode, along with selection of forward or reverse propulsion directions and speed. In one embodiment, a power key tethered to the operator can quickly shut down power to halt vehicle propulsion, and also desirably engage a parking brake, should the operator fall behind or otherwise lose control of the vehicle.
Features and advantages of the inventions are set forth in the following Description and Drawings, as well as in the appended claims.